Headlines- The United Nations warns that 800,000 people in Yemen have lost access to life-saving food aid due to the conflict's escalation, and hospitals are overcrowded with injured combatants.
- Since October 1, 20 attacks in the Strait of Hormuz have been reported, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. Two of these incidents were reported on Wednesday.
- Iran was accused by a U.S. official of lying about a cargo ship that sank on Wednesday and of attacking it, most likely with a missile.
- A cargo ship struck a naval mine on Wednesday while trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz via "an unauthorized and hazardous route," according to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
- Protests against the government in the capital of Albania Tirana turned violent on Wednesday, leaving several official buildings severely damaged and at least one on fire.
- After the arrest of a Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage by Russia's FSB security agency, Japan's Foreign Ministry summoned in Russia's ambassador on Wednesday.
Category: News & Views
Facebook Again Declines to Limit Political...
Since last fall, Facebook has insisted that it won’t fact-check political ads, a move that critics say gives politicians license to lie in ads that can’t be easily monitored by outsiders
Bikutsi Singer Calls For Boycott Of...
St Désir Atango, the Cameroonian Bikutsi singer, has decided to take the boycott road for the upcoming twin elections. In a five-minute video made in Nkometou, a city near Yaoundé; the artist expresses his disappointment with firmness and calls on Cameroonians not to go voting on February 9, 2020
Watch Out: Bangladeshi Minister Comments on...
Obaidul Quader, the minister of road transport and bridges, made the statement the same day that New York-based Human Rights Watch called on Bangladeshi authorities to unblock online access to the Sweden-based website after it showed photos of the minister wearing a variety of what appeared to be luxury timepieces
Aid Group Ends Food Program in...
On Jan. 6, the IRC ended its Tat Lan program that provided sustainable food security and improved nutrition and livelihoods to villages in Rakhine’s Myebon, Pauktaw, Kyaukphyu, and Minbya townships
Myanmar Military Files Nearly 50 Lawsuits...
The lawsuits include 18 cases filed under the Telecommunications Law, 11 under Section 505(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code, seven under Section 505(b), four under Section 500, two under the Unlawful Associations Act, two under the National Security Act, two under the Media Law, and one under Section 200
Cameroon Defense Ministry Says Artisanal And...
Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Nguemo , in charge of communication in the Ministry Defense,Cameroon has said it was at about 2:30 pm Monday, January 6, 2020, that two little boys went to the Ngala periodic market at the Nigerian side of the bridge over River El Beid, between Gambaru ( Nigeria) and Fotokol ( Cameroon) to sell the grenades before it exploded killing 9 Nigerians and left 5 Cameroonians injured
Displaced Population in Myanmar’s Rakhine State...
Civil society organizations helping the IDPs said they cannot provide supplies to the camps they wish to serve because of the permission requirement and because of authorities who prevent them from traveling by land and water in the region
As Iran Looks to Hit US...
Phillip Smyth, a Soref Fellow at The Washington Institute who studies Shia Islamist militarism, said that he does not necessarily expect the Iranians to strike immediately. He noted that they have historically been cautious and look for what he calls “plausible deniability” to avoid detection when they attack
Laos Cracks Down on Ivory, Rhino...
More than 200 kilograms of prohibited wildlife products were confiscated in Luang Prabang in 2017, 2018, and 2019, an official from the province’s Agriculture and Forestry Department told RFA’s Lao Service at the end of the year
Tibetan Buddhist Centers Linked to Larung...
A worldwide network of Tibetan Buddhist centers founded by a senior abbot of the Larung Gar Academy in China’s Sichuan province has been closed down, with followers suspecting Chinese pressure behind the move